Woman dies after leaping 30ft from 'suspicious' flat fire

A WOMAN died after leaping nearly 30ft from a second-floor window to escape a raging fire, police confirmed today.

Two people have died and two are being treated in hospital following a flat fire in London/ file ima

Two people died and two are being treated in hospital for multiple injuries after police officers discovered the fire early this morning.

A woman, aged 30, was found in the street after the fall and pronounced dead, while a second body was found inside the building during a search by firefighters, Scotland Yard said.

An 18-year-old man and a 37-year-old man were taken to hospital and police said both men remain in a serious condition but their injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

The woman and two men are believed to have desperately jumped from a second storey flat in the burning building before firefighters arrived shortly after 1.30am, a spokesman for the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

The Metropolitan Police Service said: "The fire is being treated as suspicious."

Eight fire engines and around 58 firefighters battled to control the furious blaze which has now been extinguished, the LFB said.

The fire is believed to have started in a flat above a shop before spreading to the roof and neighbouring flats.

A shocked man who was in the building at the time of the blaze told Sky News: "I heard a loud bang. When I opened the window, I saw some shattered windows on the ground and I thought there had been a car crash.

"That's when I realised there was a body on the floor."

The fire is believed to have started in a flat above a shop/ file image

I realised there was a body on the floor

Eyewitness

Around 50 people who were evacuated from the flats and nearby properties are being moved to emergency accommodation by the local authority.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police Service said: "An injured person was found in the street close to the building and subsequently pronounced dead.

"LFB brought the fire under control and are now conducting a search of the building.

"One further body has been found inside."

A spokeswoman for the London Ambulance Service said a 30-year-old woman is believed to be one of the two people found dead.

"Staff treated two patients for multiple injuries, one man believed to be 18-years-old and one man believed to be in his 30s," she said.

"Sadly two patients were also found dead at the scene. One is believed to be a 30-year-old woman."

The cause of the fire is unknown and local road closures are in place while firefighters investigate.